New inputs for my project

During my stay in Bratislava, I met several researchers
involved in regional development, doc.
Ing. arch. Jarmila Húsenicová, PhD., the Head
of the Department of Architecture at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the
Slovak Technical University , Ing. Martin Spacek, a researcher, working on the
project: Multilevel governance for balanced development
between core and peripheral spaces and Ing. arch. Miroslav Beňák, conducting
research into use of Brownfields and one of the founders of the platform Cierne diery (Black holes) ,
which monitors forgotten industrial heritage in Slovakia. http://ciernediery.sk

All
these meetings were informal discussions rather than structured interviews and
made me look at my project from different points of view.

Ing. arch. Jarmila Húsenicová, PhD., saw the tourism and with it related activities as the
main potential for regional development in Eastern Slovakia and suggested I
might be interested to consider who might be the visitors (Ukraine and Russia).
She was referring a lot to Bata and his economic and social model as a way to
decrease regional disparities. She gave me a very useful document – Long term
vision of the development of Slovak society- until 2030, which I already
started exploring and will summarise in a short time.

Ing. Martin Spaček and Miroslav
Beňák
suggested exploring wider context as the next step. What is the potential of
the whole region and how could I link it with my project of the salt work? Is
it economically beneficial to build a new salt work, considering the global
trends ? They both were more interested in the old factory in Prešov and its forgotten identity.
They see that development should come from ‘bellow’ and people are more keen when
the future development comes from the history.

As
a result of these discussion together with an input from the governmental
program I described earlier, the strongest feature of my project should not be
the salt woks itself, but rather the strategy of how it can influence the wider
region. I came back to my former idea of a salt route, which could include several
proposals. Building upon the historic legacy of the salt, I could extend my
project into the least developed regions supported by the government, and also the
problem of the leaking brine in Prešov
would become more relevant.